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Speaker 1: As we know, Australia's largest international air combat training exercise

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Speaker 1: Pitch Black. It is now underway and we've got about

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Speaker 1: one hundred and forty aircraft and more than four thousand

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Speaker 1: personnel from twenty nations taking part making participation this year

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Speaker 1: the largest in the forty three year history of the

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Speaker 1: exercise and for the first time personnel and aircraft from

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Speaker 1: the Philippines, Spain, Italy, Papua New Guinea. They're all taking

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Speaker 1: part with other countries making a return and joining me

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Speaker 1: in the studio to talk about their involvement. Is Indian

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Speaker 1: Air Force Squadron leader in Nougra Axa saying good morning

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Speaker 1: to your Axa.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Kittie, lovely to have.

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Speaker 1: You in the studio. Now. How many personnel are in

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory for Pitch Black from India?

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Speaker 2: We have abook all unfifty people from India or by

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Speaker 2: spading in the X space.

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Speaker 1: Is this your first time to Darwin for exercise Pitch Black.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's my first time to dive in foxspace and

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Speaker 2: it's been pretty good till now.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Well so twenty four hours in just about you

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Speaker 1: of the exercise going. It really kicked off properly yesterday.

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Speaker 1: What's it like being part of this exercise.

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Speaker 2: It's a great experience. It's a great learning value for

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Speaker 2: all of us, for US Indians and for the others

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Speaker 2: also to learn from each other and really get the

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Speaker 2: best out of each other's practices and cultures.

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Speaker 1: Now, talk me through what Indian aircraft are involved.

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Speaker 2: So we've got a two thirty MK that's flying in

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Speaker 2: the excise, Plus we had the C seventeen bring a

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Speaker 2: lot of us in, and we had the Aisle seventy

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Speaker 2: eight refueler bring us from hair to from India to Hair.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Right, so how many PEPs so you can obviously

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Speaker 1: pit quite a few on me. Yeah, I understand. There's

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Speaker 1: plenty of different activities as well that the pilots are

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Speaker 1: going to be doing. Tell us a little bit about,

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Speaker 1: you know, some of those activities. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: So basically this is a three week exercise. Throughout the

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Speaker 2: three weeks we have different type of combat training that's

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Speaker 2: going to be going on with different nations flying together.

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Speaker 2: And other than that, we have the Middle Day fly

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Speaker 2: past coming up yep, and I hope everyone's excited to

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Speaker 2: see the Flanka on that. And we have the open

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Speaker 2: Day where we'll be displaying us through thirty MKA aircraft

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Speaker 2: and we'll have a small little stall where you can

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Speaker 2: get Indian fresh magnets and things like that. So it's

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Speaker 2: going to be a nice event completely taking care of

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Speaker 2: all the considerations flying as well as personal and what's

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Speaker 2: it like.

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Speaker 1: For you, you know, sort of taking part in exercise

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Speaker 1: like this where you have got, you know, people from

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Speaker 1: so many other countries involved.

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Speaker 2: And so that's the great thing about the excise that

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Speaker 2: you have more than twenty nations, people that you would

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Speaker 2: not generally meet on the street, and you know, you

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Speaker 2: get to share a drink with them or maybe you know,

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Speaker 2: talk to them about tactics, about cultures, about how the

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Speaker 2: aircraft work, about how we work and gain the best

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Speaker 2: practices from everywhere and make a few good trends.

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Speaker 1: And the Indian Air Force, as I understand, it's been

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Speaker 1: taking part in Pitch Black since twenty and eighteen. From

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Speaker 1: your perspective, why is it so important to be involved.

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Speaker 2: It's important to be involved because I think the world's

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Speaker 2: not you know, different countries anymore. I think we're all

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Speaker 2: involved with each other. We all link to each other

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Speaker 2: in a very intrinsic way. And you know, Australia depends

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Speaker 2: on India. India depends on Australia for a lot of things,

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Speaker 2: so it's really important to be involved, not only just

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Speaker 2: militarily but also culturally.

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Speaker 1: EXA, tell me, this is your first time in Darwin

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Speaker 1: is nish?

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Speaker 2: Yeah?

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Speaker 1: What do you think of Darwin House of Faine.

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Speaker 2: It's been great. I mean growing up as a kid

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Speaker 2: used to watch cricket matches up in the Darwin Oval

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Speaker 2: in the Australia was always a great master oversea and

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Speaker 2: we always heard about the crocs from Darwin. So hopefully

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Speaker 2: the next week I'll go out and see a few.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I was gonna ask you, we're going to get

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Speaker 1: any time to go and see the crocodiles. There's even

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Speaker 1: it's called the Cage of Day in the city where

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Speaker 1: you can swim with the crocodiles in like a perspex

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Speaker 1: kind of box thing. Is that something you're keen to do?

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Speaker 2: Maybe not that much. I mean I really don't like that.

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Speaker 1: No, it is so cool. And when you see those

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Speaker 1: crocodiles up close, I mean it's like it's for us

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Speaker 1: here in the end. J We're so used to this

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Speaker 1: sort of stuff. But when people do arrive from other countries,

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Speaker 1: you realize it's such a draw card to see those

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Speaker 1: wild animals and all the different sort of things that

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Speaker 1: we've got happening in the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 2: Definitely, we've a brief a lot of things that can

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Speaker 2: kill you overhead, but then we really excited not only

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Speaker 2: just for the xcays but also for you know, maybe

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Speaker 2: seeing a little bit of the culture overhead, yeah, which

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Speaker 2: I've heard is very rich.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll tell you what everybody's really looking forward as

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Speaker 1: well to that air show on Thursday night. What can

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Speaker 1: we expect to see from India on Thursday at that

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Speaker 1: air show?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so you'll be seeing three sat emks flying in formation.

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Speaker 2: And trust me when I say, because maybe I'm a

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Speaker 2: little biased, but it is the most beautiful aircraft out

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Speaker 2: there and you're going to see that on Thursday.

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Speaker 1: Hell wonderful. And then of course the open day as

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Speaker 1: well on Saturday.

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Speaker 2: Definitely.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well it'll be great. It's wonderful to have you

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Speaker 1: guys here in the Northern Territory. Thank you so much

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Speaker 1: for joining us this morning. I really appreciate it.

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Speaker 2: Thank you so much.

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Speaker 1: Thank you